Pickless Warriors work out local prospects

OAKLAND — Even without a draft pick in the upcoming 2014 draft, the Warriors brought in Wiggins for their first day of pre-draft workouts.

Just not the one you’re thinking of.

Former Wichita State Shocker Nick Wiggins — brother of anticipated No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins — was one of six NBA hopefuls Wednesday at the Warriors practice facility.

Wiggins said he’s been getting many questions about his brother:

“Oh I get a thousand, we are very competitive, my whole household down to my little sister she’s competitive. I think I handle it very well, I’m happy for him, he’s a very good kid he works very hard and deserves everything that’s coming his way and it’s just a blessing to go through this with him.”

He was joined by local guard prospects Justin Cobbs (Cal) and Stephen Holt (St. Mary’s), as well as forwards Ronald Roberts (St. Joseph’s) and Ovie Soko (Duquesne) and guard Patrick Miller (Tennessee State).

Cobbs said that he’s enjoying the whole workout circuit, even with the frenetic schedule:

“It’s something I’m not accustomed to, flying on planes different cities every night. Its something you only get to do once in your lifetime and a lot of people want to be in these shoes so I’m blessed to have this opportunity so I’m going to cherish it.”

The Warriors of course have their starting point guard spot filled for the foreseeable future, though Cobbs thinks he would mesh nicely with their roster:

“They like to get up and down, they give Steph Curry a lot of room and I can be a guy that just stands in the corner when he penetrates and knock down the open shot. He’s doing a lot of scoring so he doesn’t want to chase Russell Westbrook all around and I’ll be a guy that can take that off him.”

None of the prospects in attendance currently project to be drafted in the first or second round on June 26, but Cal’s Cobbs is ranked No. 73 on nbadraft.net’s Top 100 list.

Cobbs said he doesn’t let the mock drafts affect him:

“You don’t really worry about the mock drafts, you always ask your agent if they mean anything, but everyone has their own opinion and has their guess, no mock draft if you look at the past are ever correct so you just hope your name gets called.”

Roberts was the only other player to join Cobbs on the list, ranked No. 71. Miller had the most statistical success of the prospects as he finished the season in the top five of the NCAA in scoring, averaging 23.7 points per game.

Wiggins, though, found the most team success as he played sparingly for the Wichita State team that went undefeated in the regular season before losing in the third round of the NCAA tournament.

Wiggins said the Shockers’ success was an incredible experience:

“That was special experience with that group of guys and the group of coaches, that atmosphere it was great, something I’ll never forget and I’ll have those memories for life.”

St. Mary’s Stephen Holt drew on the past experiences of former teammate and current Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova to help him through the process:

“He’s been a great mentor for me … he just said it was a grind but enjoy the process. The biggest thing he told me was you can control what you can control, and that’s your attitude, how hard you compete, how hard you work … make sure I’m talking, make sure I’m high-fiving, and doing the little things these coaches notice.”

The Warriors are without a pick in the 2014 NBA Draft after they traded both their first- and second-rounders in separate deals last year.

Golden State sent their first round pick to the Jazz as part of the package that brought them Andre Iguodala, then traded their second rounder to the Timberwolves for Malcolm Lee and the 26th pick, which sparked a flurry of moves that ultimately netted them Nemanja Nedovic.